On Sunday, September 8, 2019, the IHMM Board met at the National Safety Council Meeting in San Diego.   At that time, the Board formally accepted the merger of the Institute of Safety and Health Management (“ISHM”) into IHMM.   The ISHM Board was dissolved and two of those Board Members were placed on the IHMM Board to represent those Certificants from ISHM.   IHMM welcomes all the Certificants and thanks the ISHM Board to their past service.

Acquisition or Merger of other related organizations into IHMM has been part of the Strategic Plan. The IHMM wants to continue to round out the certifications offered by IHMM and leverage the assets of our Executive Director and Staff in the administration of credentials.   In the past few years, IHMM used specialized software to automate its back office operations.  This freed up staff time to expand our credential base. The staff has worked diligently in the past few months to integrate all the ISHM Certificants into the IHMM system. The staff will now focus on enhancing these “new” credentials, some of which will hopefully be accredited by ANSI and CESB.

Since IHMM now represent nine different credentials, the IHMM Board feels that a separate organization is needed to promote these credentials, offer training and networking opportunities to its Certificants.   In the past, this has often been done in conjunction with the Alliance of Hazardous Material Professionals (“AHMP”). In fact, the predecessor organization of AHMP was the Academy of Hazardous Materials Management (“ACHMM”) and ACHMM was born from IHMM. The relationship between IHMM and AHMP will continue.

However, as part of the Strategic Plan, the IHMM Board feels a new vehicle or organization is needed to promote all nine certifications offered by IHMM, as well as any new certifications in the future. Enter, the Hazardous Materials Society (“HMS”). The IHMM Board has authorized and funded the formation of HMS. Because there needs to be a fire wall between a credentialing part of IHMM and the promotional part of IHMM, HMS will have its own Board of Directors and independently carry out training and networking opportunities. You will hear much more about what HMS has to offer, and the potential for NEOCHMM to affiliate with HMS in the upcoming months. HMS will operate with the Executive Director and Staff of IHMM, and to that extent, remains accountable to the IHMM Board. However, the IHMM Board’s primary duty remains in the overall strategic planning and oversight for administration of credentials.

The best way you can enhance the value of your credential is to mentor a younger professional and have them sit for the credentialing exam. More information on IHMM credentials can be found on our website.